Hennick



Fe 5, 1957 F. HENNICK 2,780,127

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 15, 1953 Frank Hem/ck INVEN TOR.

United States Patent MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Frank Hennick, Berkeley Heights,N. J.

Application October 15, 1953, Serial No. 386,272

2 Claims. (Cl. 84--170) This invention relates generally to musicalinstruments and pertains more particularly to an instrument primarrlyintended for amusement as well as instruction, the instrument beingcapable of play by anyone having a general knowledge of the typewriterkeyboard.

primary object of this invention resides in the provision of a series oftuned elements or members, preferably arranged in the order of thechromatic scale, capable of being set into motion to produce a musicalsound by actuation of a set of keys, the keys being arranged generallyin the manner of a typewriter keyboard.

Another object of this invention is to provide an im proved form ofmusical instrument adapted particularly for use by a musical novice sothat manipulation of a single key will produce a tuned chord, thearrangement being such that a variety of musical effects may be produced by proper manipulation of the keys.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a plan view of the invention with the cover member thereofremoved;

Figure 2 is a vertical section, taken substantially along the plane ofsection line 2-2 in Figure 1, showing details of the internalconstruction;

Figure 3 is a horizontal section, taken substantially along the plane ofsection line 33 in Figure 2, showing detail of the major chord keyassemblies; and

Figure 4 is -a vertical section taken substantially along the plane ofsection line 4-4 in Figure 3, showing further details of the major chordkey assemblies.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, reference numeralindicates the cabinet or housing of the instrument generally, whichincludes a rear wall 12, spaced-parallel side Walls 14 and 16 and afront wall 18 arranged in the manner shown. A support or partition wall20 extends diagonally between the side walls 14 and 16 and a furtherpartition wall 22 extends parallel thereto, these walls having a soundbar 24 extending between them in a manner shown most clearly in Figure1, the purpose of which will be presently apparent.

Abutting the lower edge of the front face of the wall 20 is an anchormember 26 and a similar anchor member 28 is secured in abutting relationto the inner face of the front wall 18. These members are interconnectedby a bridge piece 30 which extends between the opposite side walls ofthe cabinet in the manner shown. Securing the bridge piece between themembers 26 and 28 and also providing adjustable securing pegs for thevarious strings 32 are the peg members .34. It will be noted that thereare sixteen of these strings of equal length and that consecutively ingroups of four they are adapted for actuation by the key members 36, 38,and 42. A pair of posts 44 and '46 are disposed adjacent opposite2,780,127 Patented Feb. 5, 1957 ice side walls of the cabinet and apivot rod 48 is secured between these posts in the manner shown mostclearly in Figure 4 to which intermediate portions of the levers 50constituting a portion of the various key members are secured forpivotal movement thereon. Each lever has a free end portion projectingbeyond the plane of the post and a support bar 52 extending between theposts carries a series of spring finger members 54 which abut againstthe free ends of the levers to hold them normally in a substantiallyhorizontal position, as shown most clearly in Figure 2. Adjacent theother free end of the levers are the hammer or striker bars 56, each ofwhich carries four pick members 58 in depending relation thereto whichare adapted, upon downward movement of the levers, to strike anassociated one of the various strings 32 such as to cause the strings tovibrate and produce a musical sound. It will be understood that the fourstrings associated with each of the striker bars 56 and their associatedpicking elements are arranged in the order of a major chord such as isindicated by the indieia provided on the key plates 60 associated witheach of the various levers, as for example, C, C8, and the like. Thesestrings in their associated key assemblies are adapted to produce basesounds to provide the accompaniment for the melody which is played in amanner hereinafter set forth.

A further pivot bar 62 is arranged in vertically spaced relation to thepreviously mentioned member 48 between the post members 44- and 46 andthis member is adapted to pivotally receive intermediate portions of thevarious levers 64. These levers or key members are provided at theirrearward free ends with an enlarged foot 66, the rear faces of which arearranged vertically in opposition to the partition wall 20, previouslydescribed. These rear faces are provided with felt pads, or the like, 68and at their lower portions with projecting rake portions 70 in themanner shown most clearly in Figure 2. A backing strip 72 is secured tothe front face of the wall 20 opposite the free end portions of thelevers 64 and this strip carries a stepped strip 74, each forward faceof which carries a set of three reed members 76 in cantileverrelationship, these reed members being secured to the strip 74 as by thevertical pin members 78. The various lever or key members 64, similar tothe previously described levers 50, are normally held in substantiallyhorizontal position by the spring fingers 80 carried by the previouslymentioned bar 52. Normally, the free ends of the various reeds 76 are infrictional engagement with the felt pads 68 on the key members such thatthey will be held against vibration.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 1, it will be seen that thekey members in the intermediate tier of the keyboard of the instrumentterminate at their for ward ends closely adjacent the previouslydescribed key plates 66 and that they are provided with indicia 82arranged substantially in the manner of a typewriter keyboard Withcertain of the keys 34 being of shorter length and provided with indicia86 completing the standard letter keyboard of a typewriter. Theseshorter keys are positioned at the second and sixth notes of a chromaticscale. There are a series of keys 88 corresponding to the number line ofa standard typewriter keyboard which provide the half tones and thefourth, ninth and eleventh half tones of the chromatic scale.

The various reeds 76 are arranged to sound three notes of a major chord,the lowermost reed being that note which corresponds to the note in thechromatic scale as indicated by the indicia 90 on the various keys. Afurther partition wall 22 which is disposed in spacedparallel relationto the previously described wall 20 so as to provide a sound boxtherebetween, the opposite side Walls 14' audio being provided withopenings 92 for allowing the air column to properly resonate. Thepreviously mentioned soundbar 24 is positioned at that point between thewalls 20 and 22 such that the most pleasing tonal qualities of theinstrument are brought forth. The chamber 94 between the wall 22"a'n'dthe wall 12 of the cabinet provides a'further soundboX for the musicalinstrument; as will be readily apparent. The

instrument maybe provided with a'rernovable cover'meinf ber 96' which ishinged as at 9% to theuppe'r edge of the rear 12' and it is to benotedthat the front wall18 is provided with the hinge means liltl so thiswall member maybe dropped toa substantially horizontal position when itis desired to" play the instrument, allowing proper manipulation of thevariouskey members. Also, loweringthe Wall 18" allows access to the"members 34, which have square heads for manipulation with a suitablewrench, to'ti'ghteri or l-oosenthe's'ame and attainproper ot theinstrument.

It will'beappr'eeiated thatone or severalfing'e'rs may ni fa ipmaeona ofmore of the'various' keys" on the'keyboard otthe'instrument arid thatthe music denotingihe composition to be played is in the form of aseries; of arbithaiiily arranged characters of a typewriter which"are'in'te'rpre ted by the user through the medium of thenovel keyboardassembly of the ins'turmen't' into the proper musicar sounds. A veryrapid striking and relea ing of the various keys will enablethe'ope'rator' to produce a staccato'sound whereas a slow depression ofone of i the keys will produce a strumming sound, the slower thedepression, the more space'd'the tonesthat are played the chordsofeachof the seriesof" vertically arranged reed elements. In fact, variousefiects can be produced both by the rapidity or slowness ofmanipulation, as well as the amount of depression, such as thesimulation of a mandolin by rapid up and-down manipulation'of one of theke ys. Obviously, the material used in the reeds is to be selected onthe basis of producing the most desirable tonal qualities. Also, theirthickness and length will necessarily be dependent upon the tonal 4qnality 'des'ired, and it' is to be understood th'at-thei angle anddisposition of the wall members 20 and 22 may be altered'to produce themost desirable results.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will bereadily understood and further explanation is believed to beunnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction shown and described, andaccordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may beresortedto, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A musical instrument comprising a cabinet in the form of a miniaturepiano, said cabinet including a transverse partition wall, a pluralityof keys, support means for pivotally mounting said keys, at least someof said keys having free inner end portions providing end faces opposingsaid wall, a group of vertically spaced reeds associated with each ofsaidend faces, said 're'eds being secured at one end to said wellandextendingtherefroni' intoengagernentwith the end faces of associatedkeys, each key also having a rake extension underlying its as- I,sociate'd reeds such that depression of a key will set the 25 associatedreeds into motion.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said end faces of the keys areprovided with resilient material for damping'vibration of said reeds.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED' STATES PATENTS

